Written ~ 08-23-2023
2 Timothy 2:23-26
“Again, I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”
Many of us know someone or have encountered someone who does not believe the truth of Jesus Christ or believe there is a God in Heaven who created all things. Their ideologies are set firm with what they want to believe and there doesn’t seem to be any other way of convincing them otherwise. We are reminded in this Scripture that it doesn’t do any good to be argumentative, it’s not going to bring someone to Christ by trying to pound the truth into them. In verse 2:25b it says,
“Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.”
God knows the state of that person’s heart and He will be the one to soften and change their heart. When we want to push and maybe confront those who don’t want to believe, the Lord says stop, don’t quarrel, don’t get into arguments. It may be time to completely let go and let God take over this person’s soul, we should no longer feel it is our sole responsibility to “save” that person. It can be difficult, the patience needed must come from the Lord. Why is it difficult? Because we want, so badly, for that person to know the love, peace, and joy of the Lord for their lives! For me personally, it’s super difficult, because I have never known anything different but to love the Lord and know He died on the cross for the sin of the world and that God himself created the world and everything in it with His own breath, His own words. So, it’s hard for me to understand how someone couldn’t or doesn’t want to believe the same way as I do. It really breaks my heart when I see someone not grasp onto the truth for themselves.
Isaiah 6:9-10 says,
“And He said, “Yes, go, and say to this people, ‘Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.’ Harden the hearts of those people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to Me for healing.”
This Scripture is repeated by Jesus, we can read those accounts in Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8, then again by Paul in Acts 28.
As much as we want everyone to come to Christ and be saved, it’s become a realization to me, by reading these Scriptures today that there may be those who will not come to know the Lord personally. They have closed their eyes, their ears, and their hearts to the truth of Jesus. No matter how much we try to get them to see, to hear, to learn…it may be that they just won’t. What this does not mean is that we give up. We must continue to pray for them. The love of Christ must be shown through our actions. And God may choose to open their hearts, it just may not be up to us to get through to them. If God does choose to change their hearts, verse 2:26a says,
“Then they will come to their senses…”
Isn’t it true when you speak to someone whose heart has been so hardened that there is no getting through to them, that you just can’t make sense of their disbelief? It’s because their minds and their hearts are not open, they aren’t making sense to us because our minds and our hearts have been opened, we know the truth and want them to know it as well. Verse 2:26b gives further explanation as to why they can’t see, hear, or understand the truth, it says,
“…and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”
It’s a scary thought, isn’t it? That the reason some people will not turn their hearts to Jesus is because the enemy, the devil has twisted the truth, told so many lies, that its delusion has become a reality in that person’s heart and mind. They have fallen into a trap and will need extraordinary, supernatural help to get out.
If all we can do is pray for someone’s Salvation, then we should do it with great diligence, make it a part of our constant prayer. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.
Father, You know my heart. You know those loved ones of mine who don’t know the truth of Jesus Christ. My constant prayer is that You would soften their hearts, open their eyes, open their ears to know the truth of Your Son Jesus Christ and understand what He did on the cross for them. My prayer is that through Your Holy Spirit their lives would be touched in whatever way needed, in order to show them that You are real, that You are God, the Creator of the universe. Thank You Father for opening my eyes, for unplugging my ears and giving me the heart and mind to know and understand the truth.
~AMEN~